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It's now an almost absolute certainty that when St Marks Place has any vacancy, it will soon be filled by an Asian restaurant or kareoke bar. This week's examples are the pending 3 story kareoke bar and lounge that is currently being built out in the former Mondo Kim's space (which is missed), and Pho 32 & Shabu, which will open in the space formerly occupied by David Z shoes (which is not missed). It may be appropriate to redraw the neighborhood lines from the newest City Maps.

Brooklyn's music venue dominance continues with the pending opening of Bruar Falls, a new music venue and "funspace" being opened by the Cake Shop team. Bruar Falls will be replacing the now closed Lucky Cat at 245 Grand Street, and will be open in the coming weeks. According to Brooklyn Vegan, the first show is scheduled for tomorrow, but the space may not be ready. No word if cupcakes will be available. [via BV]

Where to get beer for just a buck, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. More...

Say hey everyone! The folks from GIGANTIC (starring Paul Dano and Zooey Deschanel) have teamed with DBTH in anticipation of the film's world premiere at the Gen Art Film Festival being held in NYC, and will reward a faithful reader with tickets to the premiere and and super exclusive after party being held at 1OAK. Wow! In honor of our recently revamped commenting system, the DBTH commenter who pens the "Comment of the Week" will be the giveaway winner, and will be selected by the revered DBTH Board of Directors. Let the games begin. Gigantic The Movie

While we haven't quite solved our commenting problems, we do feel as if it's contained enough to once again open our comments up to everyone. If you are an autobot, please do not think these means you. Let's have some fun. Also, please remember to sign up for our DBTH on Twitter, which may just replace the telegraph as the world's most popular means of communication.

The Pool Parties may be over, but that doesn't mean there won't be any summer music to enjoy in New York's great outdoors. Details for Summer Stage in Central Park and the Celebrate Brooklyn series at the Prospect Park Bandshell are starting to slowly trickle out. In the BK, MGMT's announced show has already sold out, and an August date for Animal Collective has just been announced. In swank Central Park, TV on the Radio kicks off Summer Stage 2009, with a variety of programming filling in the schedule. Sadly, neither venue offers Dodgeball. Sometimes you have to sacrifice.

In response to China 1's refashioned basement lounge, a commneter and neighbor writes: This club is in the basement of my building, in which 25 families live, including young children and inform elderly. This club has been an absolute nightmare for we who "live upstairs." We tenatns have spoken to China One's owner (Andrew Krauss) and management (Steven) on numerous occasions, sent them letters, called them up in the wee hours of the morning, and even contacted the landlord, all to no avail whatsoever. They seem to deliberatly not care that we cannot sleep at night, especially on the weekends, until after 4 a.m. because of the loud bass beat that literally throbs through the building and shakes the walls. I implore all to please DON'T PATRONIZE THIS CLUB! It is just a money-grubbing operation that doesn't care who it inconveniences as it just strives to rake in the cash. And how does Buddhism and the Obama Adminstration fit in? Find out after the jump!

Another new cocktail lounge for Manhattan? According to @GarnishBar, its true! And this one has a Tequila and Death and Company twist: "New cocktail lounge in Manhattan w/ strong focus on Tequila and Mezcal is looking for a bartender. Contact: Phil@deathandcompany.com"

By all accounts, Keith's McNally's meticulously restored Minetta Tavern is a home run. The West Village classic is getting rave reviews for its menu and cocktail program, and non VIP's have been relegated to the dreaded 5:00 PM or 11:30 PM reservation options. Recently, we decided to pop in there on an off night to check the space out and sit at the bar to enjoy its cocktail program. Upon entering, we got what everyone was talking about. The Minetta's updating was indeed perfection, creating an authentic vibe that screams Manhattan. While every table was packed, the bar area had just enough space to sip a drink or two. But while we had already seen the cocktail menu, trying to choose from it brought on a wave of disgust. Did we really want to spend $14 on an Old Tom Collins or a Ginger In the Rye (a modified Dark and Stormy)? The answer was simply "no". Perhaps the re-design harkened us back to the now gone boom time, when clamoring for the right to overpay for drinks delivered some kind of payoff. But like Grant Achatz's belief that molecular gastronomy's time may be gone, so too may be the time of the $14 drink. $2.50 a sip ain't what it used to be. [Photo Credit]

On what was hopefully one of the final chilly nights of the year, with the wind whipping of the Hudson, the Rusty Knot celebrated it's One Year Anniversary with a festive get together of friends and pretzel dog lovers. The lead up to the Knot's opening was way overheated, as its owners Taavo Somer and Ken Friedman were knighted as saviors of the dive bar scene. But its opening led to the inevitable backlash, with many griping that the Rusty Knot was trying to hard to be a real dive bar. What phooey! Its 12 months of operation, capped off with last night's get together, proved that none of it matters. The place was packed with a mixed crew of people hoisting tiki drinks and enjoying free Busch beer, ordering up said pretzel dogs and savoring the return of the Chicken Liver and Bacon sandwich. Taavo even busted out a smoke machine and light show, making that corner of the bar uninhabitable, but kitschy nonetheless. It's day 366 for the Rusty Knot, and the place will just keep on keeping on, and that's all it needs to do.

Last week, we celebrated the end of winter with a special DBTH poll, helping determine what everyone had planned for the summer now that the world had crumbled around us. Well, the results are in! We even put them into this fancy schmancy pie chart above. Surprisingly, only 14% of you killed your plans due to the recession, and almost 40% of you are still planning on hitting the Hamptons and Fire Island this summer, which is excellent news for the weekend operators and share housers looking to make money this season. Thanks for playing!

Out in the BK, the Times Local goes deep into an ongoing noise war that would make CB 3 proud. The owners of Lox Bar and Ultra Lounge have been repeatedly visited by building inspectors, FDNY and a host of other City agencies due to repeated 311 calls from his neighbors. Owner Laki “Roy” McLaurin is at his wit's end, saying “We developed this business to raise our families. When you have people who are trying to destroy that for whatever reason, you do feel upset about it. But I feel I can’t do anything about it. I can just stay within the confines of the law and do what’s right.” Often, this is not enough for neighbors, who will probably keep on calling 311 and petitioning the local CB and councilwoman, impairing McLaurin's ability to operate. Photo Credit

As has been reported, the Rusty Knot is celebrating its One Year Anniversary on Monday by hosting a little shimmy at the West side nautical dive. We've been told that Chicken Liver and Bacon sandwich will be brought back as part of the festivities, which is great news for fans of its unique deliciousness. That means us. If you remember, it was just 6 months ago that proprietors Taavo Somer and Ken Friedman told DBTH that the sandwich is an item "we all love it but it’s not selling". No word if this a permanent addition back to the menu, but much like the McRib, consume it while you have the chance.

Today is the final day of winter, so it seems like the perfect time to ask you what you're summer plans are. So we are proud to bring back the much loved DBTH Poll. Let's hear what you have got lined up for the season. What are your plans for the summer? ( Online surveys)

A Little Birdy reports that Ryan's Irish Tavern on 2nd Avenue has reopened, just in time for March Madness. They had temporarily closed for some renovations. Please resume your lives.

It's been blogged about extensively and even featured on Fox local news, so we figured we ought to check out the schoolgirl promotion at Park Avenue Winter. So for those of you who need a refresher, this critically acclaimed bastion of gourmet cuisine has attracted the Murray Hill masses by offering a free meal (read: any appetizer, entree, side, and dessert, along with two free drinks) to any lady dressed in schoolgirl attire after 9:30 pm.

Regarding the Gramercy Park Hotel's latest special: We "Hang Out" wherever our group of friends decide to have dinner and drinks after, but since I was born and bred downtown, normally there. You on the other hand, with your statement of "consistently packed with a good crowd"...if you idea of a good crowd is promoters that work at TenJune, you must be a Long Island Native, went to a Jap school like syracuse, wisconsin, michigan or the like... your idea of a "beautiful" woman is someone that is five foot four inches tall and weighs 130 lbs and wears close too tight, like a ten pound sausage in a five pound bag.

After taking down a few overpriced Sixpoint pints in DBA's backyard, we came across this sign outside the still open Holiday Cocktail Lounge. It looks like the new management has instituted the Attitude Adjustment Hour, offering a 12 oz. of domestic brew and some hot wings for $5.00. Not too shabby! And they got themselves a new chalkboard taboot, replacing the previous method of taping some paper to the pole. It's no McSorley's TV, but it is a step in the right direction.

Bad news for those wanting to take a weekday trip to the Cabin, the new subterranean speakeasy that quietly opened beneath the Pizza Shop on Avenue A. The space is only open Thursday - Saturday. Adjust your calendars accordingly.

East Village stalwart Cafe Mogador has been closed since Monday morning. No, this not because of DOH violations. Instead, the Mogador closed to undertake some long planned kitchen renovations, mostly dealing with upgrading their equipment. A sign on the door said the plan was to re-open again this morning, but work was still being done late into Wednesday night. Expect to see the same brunch crowd waiting there on Saturday morning.

Another day, another speakeasy. This time it's China 1 who steps into the fray with a super secret basement lounge to lure more patrons to Avenue B. The space previously hosted spontaneous dance parties, but it has been repositioned as a stand alone lounge. According to an email that is being sent around, to gain access you must: walk through the restaurant to the stairs in the back and go down. You'll find a bar. In the corner will be a blond girl with a clipboard. give your name, and she'll guide you to the hidden lounge. She'll also give you a clipping of film which you can redeem for a free drink at the bar. So mysterious. The space is designed to look like an ancient Chinese palace, and holds up to 100 people. The target crowd is "models, agency reps, designers, photographers", and even the staff will be models. Oh so beautiful. The lounge is unnamed, but the goal is to pick something that represents the "notion of Western debauchery in a Chinese setting." That shouldn't be too hard.

How tough is the hotel business these days? Multiple Little Birdys who still use A Small World forwarded this email blast they received yesterday, promising all members a buy one get one for 50% off at Ian Schrager's Gramcery Park Hotel. One LB comments, "Hotels are getting DESPERATE, even the GPH, I wonder how Rose Bar is doing these days lol?" Well, we know that Rose Bar is doing just fine, but selling $20 drinks is not going to pay off the buiding's debt service. In other Ian Schrager news, a Little Birdy tells us that work is progressing on the first batch of Edition Hotels, Schrager's much ballyhooed partnership with Marriott. Some of the pioneer locations include Istanbul and Waikiki, certainly unique destinations to launch a global brand. More news will be leaking through the coming months, so stay tuned.

With gracious input from the NYC alumni chapters of nearly every school in the tournament, here's the definitive breakdown of where to drink this March Madness. With bonus fun facts! More...

South By Southwest kicks off tonight in Austin (well, the music part of the 2 week long conference), and DBTH will be bringing you the latest and greatest of all things Austin. Just as the interactive conference folks are leaving, JetBlue has added bigger planes to bring all the music industry people into town for the long weekend. Highlights include Metallica in the courtyard at Stubb's BBQ, Perez Hilton's annual bash being held at a Safeway this year and Datarock at new lounge Malverde. Stay tuned and let us know of anything going on.

Wass wasn't the only NYC nightlifer to get some screen time in the Wrestler. Armin, the owner of the now closed Socialista, had a bit part of a doctor in the film. But it turns out the authorities in Iran (where Armin is from) were none too happy with the movie. According to the Observer: His father, Ali, had been taken into custody by the Iranian police for questioning. “They came and picked him up at 7:30 in the morning, and basically they were asking about me because of my role in The Wrestler. Ali was released a few hours later. God bless America. [Observer]